What's an item called that was required to progress in a video game, but now isn't?
This question was inspired by an Arqade question: How do I save a Destiny warp drive?.
The premise is this:
- In order to progress to mission 3 (or 4 etc.) you must complete the second mission. The item you acquired in mission one ( a derelict space ship) led you to mission two wherein you had to find a second item, the warp drive, in order to "leave orbit". This warp drive must be handed over at the end of your second mission, but it's no longer needed because your reward, a new shipcraft, has already one fitted.
The person asking the question on Arqade wondered how to save this item, to avoid losing it, but this is pointless, the fact that the mission was completed is what will give you the ability to progress forward, not that you picked up this item.
Thus, this warp drive is sort of orthogonal to the game. It is an item like any other dummy item added to the end of a mission which in turn you can turn in when you get back to The Tower for some kind of reward. In this regard it is currency, nothing else. "You give me that wrap drive, I give you this ship":
The subsequent ability of the player to "leave orbit" and play on other planets comes from eventually completing enough missions so that missions on the moon becomes available. Even if this warp drive was removed from the game completely the player would be able to do this, once this mission (to recover the warp drive) was completed.
Is there a term for these kind of items?
Items that seem to drive the story forward but are sort of unnecessary, added more like a plot prop to hold in your hands than anything else?
Items given to the player to bring them somewhere, when the real goal was to get the player to that location; the item was just to give them purpose.
Perhaps that is my word; purpose. Or is there a better one?
Solution 1:
The term you are looking for in gamer parlance is "Key Item".
Key items are special items that players can only obtain once, and either aid the progression of the storyline or allow access to new areas. - Bulbapedia
The reference is specific to the Pokemon franchise, but the term is valid in any video game. Another accepted term is "Quest Item", and this would be particularly true for your case since the item is part of a series of quests.
Quest items are objects needed to complete a specific quest. Usually they have to be given up when the quest has been completed - Skyrim Wiki
There are many examples of these types of items in video games, but the general thread between them is that they all progress the story or allow access to another location in the game.
Note that these are both specific to gaming and would probably be considered gaming-specific jargon. While they might be understood by those who understand the context, they are not likely to be recognized as commonly accepted expressions in the english language.
The specific premise that you have offered as an example suggests that the item in question is not necessary to advance in the game. The implication being that a Warp Drive is not actually necessary to travel to another planet.
If it is not, you would simply modify it as a False Key Item or False Quest Item, though this depends on whether the game is intentionally trying to decieve you, or if it is simply a normal item that is given as a reward for your quest (which you might call a "reward item").
Solution 2:
You might refer to it as a MacGuffin:
a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or maguffin) is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation. The specific nature of a MacGuffin is typically unimportant to the overall plot. (source: wikipedia)
Solution 3:
In gaming, it is called a quest item (also known as a plot item or a key item). The term is usually used in MMO games.
Skyrim
Quest items are items that are, in one way or another, related to a quest. As a rule, quest items cannot be removed from the inventory through any means(see bugs), save for those involved in the quest.
WOW
Quest items are items used exclusively as a requirement for completing a quest. Its tooltip will say "Quest Item".
Runescape
Quest items are an items that are only used during, only made for, or only obtained during the course of one or more quests.
Solution 4:
It's a
Plot Coupon
A thing that a character needs to obtain in order to cash it in later for a Plot resolution.
For example, let's say that our intrepid hero must steal a key, then find the Treasure Chest of Galumphry that the key will open, then remove the Orb of Power from the chest and use it to banish the Big Bad. The key, the chest, and the Orb are all plot coupons. Extremely common in video games, where collecting these coupons is known as a Fetch Quest, it is often presented as collecting several pieces of a lost artifact or gaining recognition from several factions.
A plot coupon might just as easily be one item in a series of MacGuffins, where the things themselves are not important, it is the seeking of them that moves the story along (indeed, the two terms often get used interchangably). See also Sword of Plot Advancement.
Source: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotCoupon
Solution 5:
"useless quest items" yields 4,900 results on Google using quotes. Either through a bug in the game or the player's own folly, quest items that may have been useful or have fulfilled their only purpose are now useless.
Some games like Monkey Island or Full Throttle will leave these in your inventory as red herrings for a while. Both of these games will at some point relieve you of the overburden of these things in your inventory. The OP's game is just poorly programed or annoying.